RECYCLED AIR
by anesthetic relief
Summary: I'm feeling green, like teenage lovers between the sheets kairiyuffie
1. Underneath Asphalt

»RECYCLED AIR♪

☆··—

Shifting, slightly, Yuffie readjusted the black garbage bag filled with clothing underneath her arm as she attempted to flip through the phone book. She stood there in the cramped and dirty phone booth with no one in particular to call but with the only intention of getting out of the rain. As of four hours ago she was deemed homeless. Yuffie had once again failed to get her bills paid and the landlord simply would not put up with her anymore. Screw him.

It wasn't her fault… really it wasn't. She exhaled loudly, leaning back against the glass wall. Who decided rent should be paid every first day of the month anyway? Why couldn't someone who was 'in-between-jobs' get a few weeks extra? Did they not _know_ how difficult it was to get a decent job these days? The ever-growing population in the city wasn't helping either.

Yuffie stopped by Riku's apartment not too long ago hoping to have a place to stay but after he had started in on the "You should have went to college" crap she got her things and left. She wasn't asking for a lecture, she wasn't even asking to be fed, she just needed some place to sleep for the night – probably two nights – and it wasn't like she wasn't aware that a degree of some sort would make getting a job slightly easier. Yuffie was very aware of that, but she wasn't the studious type, oh no, all those books and term papers were not for her. Besides, there was that little thing to worry about called 'college tuition'.

Screw him too.

A knock against the door of the phone booth startled Yuffie momentarily before she turned to look at the man outside with a facial expression that read, 'What the fuck do you want?'

"If you're not going to call anyone, get out so we can use the phone damn it." It wasn't until then that she had noticed the small line forming outside the booth.

She shifted the bag again before growling, "Give me a god damn minute, will ya?"

There really wasn't anyone to turn to, that she knew of, but she called the first person that came to mind. Sora. They hadn't spoken in years but they were pretty close back when they were still teenagers; if he weren't already married with kids by then it really shouldn't have been a problem for her to crash at his place. …Was it? Wait – married with kids? They were only twenty-two, not to mention Sora was gay. Who had kids at that age anyway? Well, aside from the dopes in high school who thought they were really in love. Ha!

Two, five, three… Yuffie hesitated before dialing the rest of the number. She'd be surprised if the kid even remembered her. After the first ring she was already regretting it.

But if Sora was the same kid she knew in high school, he's more than likely single –the guy wasn't exactly social. He's probably got some mediocre part time job, most likely attending college too and living on his own. He wasn't an animal person so he probably wouldn't have a pet. The walls of his apartment would be bare and probably an off-white color—

"Hello?" A girl's voice on the other end of the line answered.

Yuffie blinked. Perhaps he had a sex change? "Hi…I'm –uh calling for Sora. Is he there by any chance?"

"Umm…yeah he's here. One sec."

All right, so he didn't get a sex change. As amusing as that would have been, Yuffie was relieved that he didn't…and rather confused. One, because a girl answered, meaning she was probably wrong about him being single and living on his own and two, because she thought he was gay.

"…Hello?"

"Oh – Hey, Sora. It's Yuffie."

"_Yuffie_?"

Hell, he said it like he'd expected her to be dead already. "Um…_yeaah_. How are you, pal?"

"I'm good. Wow. This is really unexpected. ..How are things with you?"

"Uh. Things really could –could be better…heh. I was actually calling to see if – well this is _really_ embarrassing but I was wondering if – well. The thing is, I _kind_ of got kicked out of my apartment and…um."

There was never really a correct way to ask someone, whom you haven't spoken with in four years, if you could stay at their house because you were homeless and a loser. She definitely regretted calling now.

"You wanted to know if you could stay here for a while?"

"Oh god, it'd be so great if I could. Like, just for a few nights. This is seriously pathetic of me, I know, but I haven't really got anywhere else to go."

"Yeah you can stay here."

"…Seriously?" Yuffie tugged at her scarf.

"Can you hurry up in there?" The people outside were growing impatient and it wasn't very difficult to tell them to screw off, seeing as how it only took one quick hand gesture.

"What was that?"

Yuffie laughed, "Uh…there's a small line waiting to use the phone."

"Oh... Did you need me to pick you up?"

"Oh geeze, I'm already asking to stay at your house –I don't want to start bumming rides too."

But it was decided. Yuffie was to wait outside that gas station for her ride and that was that. She waited for what seemed like twenty minutes, seated on the curb right next to her plastic bag of clothes. What a sight, she thought, laughing at herself. When Sora finally showed up in his dinky little white car Yuffie grinned widely, surprised that he actually came. Discomfited as it was, she climbed into the passenger seat and was greeted with a hug, prepared to talk all the way home. She wanted to avoid any chance of an awkward silence, not that it was very difficult though, seeing as how the two had so much to catch up on.

"…Seven flights of stairs." Yuffie exhaled, placing a hand against the stucco wall.

"Well it was this apartment or 402 on the ninth floor." Sora added, unlocking the door, "Sorry about the mess and all…I probably should have picked up a bit before I brought you over."

Entering the living room Yuffie simply blinked, quite a few several times. …What mess was he talking about? The place was absolutely spotless with the exception of the pair of sneakers kicked under the glass coffee table and the papers spread out on top of it. That was nothing compared to how her apartment looked like. She was wrong about the walls being an off-white color it was actually golden yellow. Why golden yellow, she would never know, but it was still nothing she had expected. What next? Would she find out he had two dogs and an iguana lying around somewhere?

Stacking the papers neatly and taking them over to the desk in the corner of the room, Sora called over his shoulder, "Make yourself at home. If you're thirsty I can get you something to drink and uh—we already had dinner but I can run out and get you some cheeseburgers. We don't really cook around here, well I don't anyway."

We? Yuffie gave him a perplexed look as she set her bag on the ground. Oh right, a girl had answered the phone earlier. She seemed to be absent, however.

"You didn't go vegan or anything did you?"

"Oh –_hell_ no." Yuffie snorted, "But I'm fine, thanks."

She was lying, of course. Being kicked out and having to pack your things up with little notice didn't give you time to eat. Yuffie didn't have much furniture in the crap-apartment of hers, and the furniture she did have she left behind. All she brought was clothing and her camera. Really, what was she going to do with a lumpy couch and a splintering old table anyway?

"Thanks for letting me stay here; it's really a lot to ask considering…well. You know." She had no job, no money, no car…

"No, it's really no problem at all. …You sure you don't need anything?"

A large pizza, a pack of cigarettes and maybe a few beers would be just fine, thank you. Yuffie sat down on the couch, shaking her head once more. After giving a short tour of the apartment, Sora brought out a blanket and a few pillows and placed them on the couch. She was surprised that he didn't ask any questions about why she'd been evicted or whether she was working or not because honestly, it wasn't everyday someone took an unemployed old friend in like that. Why Sora let her stay didn't really matter to her though.

Once he had closed his bedroom door and, from Yuffie's own assumptions, went to bed she kicked off her own tatty sneakers and let out a sigh as she unfolded the blanket. Not an hour ago she had been standing in a telephone booth, freezing her ass off and trying to stay out of the rain. Now here she was in Sora's notably sweet apartment, warm as a …well she didn't know what but she was pretty damn comfortable.

Changing out of her clothing and into her sleepwear, Yuffie slumped down onto the sofa and clicked the power button on the nearby remote. Sora had said if she wanted to, to watch TV and some noise was what she needed. The entire apartment complex was so quiet it was nerve wracking. Observing the living room and the connecting kitchen, it was safe to say she was right about one thing. Sora was indeed going to college, which only reminded her of what a failure she was. Finally taking her eyes off the Psychology books on the end table Yuffie decided the next morning she'd go job hunting –she was bound to get hired somewhere…eventually. Hell she'd even settle for some place like Weenie Hut Jr. You'd have to be pretty fuckin' low not to be qualified there, of course at the moment she did feel just _that_ low.

"Oh!" Yuffie's head snapped up to see a redheaded girl standing in the doorway, one foot still in the hallway outside with one keeping the door open, "I didn't know Sora was having a guest over."

Recognizing her voice Yuffie only smiled timidly saying, "I called earlier, I think you were the one who answered the phone, right?"

She closed the door awkwardly trying desperately not to drop her books. Why anyone would be out until 2am and come home holding a stack of books was a mystery to Yuffie. "Yeah, Oh…" she smiled setting her things down on the island counter in the kitchen before turning back to look at Yuffie, "Well, Hi, my name's Kairi... I hope I didn't wake you or anything."

Yuffie shrugged raising her hands slightly, "I'm Yuffie and –don't worry about it. I've been uh…having trouble falling asleep way before you got here." She remained seated on the black leather couch in front of the television unsure if whether or not she was supposed to feel uncomfortable because she was sitting in front of a stranger in her small boxers and a tank top.

Kairi cocked her head to the side, "The crickets weren't keeping you up were they?"

Yuffie jumped a bit and choked back a small yelp, "…What crickets?"

Now as daring as Yuffie may have been, there _were_ a few things that scared her more than anything else and those things were: insects and time. Insects because they were just…insects and time because it was the only thing in life she really had no control over –and there is nothing scarier than that.

"Well, sometimes Sora's iguana doesn't eat the crickets in his tank and they end up chirping all night."

Yuffie blinked, craning her neck so to look at the glass tank she had failed to take notice of earlier. Lo and behold, there, in the corner of the room, lay the iguana she had so unknowingly predicted would be there when she first walked into the room. "Um…no. The crickets have not made one sound." She breathed, shifting as she pulled her knees nearer to her chest, "You wouldn't happen to have any dogs would you…?"

☆··—

"You're up early." Sora entered the kitchen wearing a pair of plaid boxers and a faded gray t-shirt. His hair was a mess as usual and his eyelids still droopy.

"You didn't tell me you were living with a lesbian." Yuffie stated with a smirk on her face.

Sora only blinked with a perplexed facial expression and stared at her. Yuffie stared back from where she sat, perched on a stool by the island counter with her smirk still present. "What are you…talking about?" Sora asked slowly, reaching for the fridge door.

"Your roommate. She likes girls."

"…And she told you all this when?"

Swirling her spoon around in the small bowl of cereal before her Yuffie was now grinning, "Well I met her when she came home roaring drunk last night and she pretty much just pounced me—"

"What?!"

"Oh _calm down _Sora. Like that uptight little _princess_ of yours would really do that anyway."

Sora breathed, pulling out the half-empty carton of milk and asked, "What makes you think she's a lesbian then…?"

"It's called gaydar. I thought we already established what that was in the tenth grade."

"Oh geeze. Yuffie you do not have—"

"Do _not_ doubt the precision of the gaydar, Sora" She pointed at him with her spoon and raised her brows tempting him to doubt the so-called gaydar. He chose not to.

"I see you haven't changed."

Yuffie blinked, "What does that mean?"

He chuckled slightly, bringing over his own bowl of cornflakes, "Our conversation today still resembles the same ones we had in the high school cafeteria."

He was calling her immature…was it really her fault that what they talked about then was coming up now? No, most definitely not.

"Look, Yuffie…I know she doesn't like girls." Yuffie raised a brow at this. "I've known Kairi for three years now…" The small glimmer in his eyes when he spoke was more than enough to give it away that the boy was in love.

"I thought you were gay." She interrupted.

He snorted, "Yuff, I've never liked guys. I'm telling you, your gaydar fails."

As did the rest of her life, she thought, letting the spoon fall from her mouth. "You're…really not gay?"

"No. I'm not."

"So you mean…" Yuffie blinked, "All those years, we could have gone out and picked up girls together?"

"Yuff!"

"That's major bonding time, Sora! We missed out on that."

Sora rolled his eyes and folded his arms over his chest. He couldn't believe this. She doesn't even apologize for accusing him of being gay all those years. "It's not like there would have been any point in that anyway…surprisingly and very sadly you got all the girls."

Perhaps she had come in at a bad time, but Kairi entered anyway. She was heading out for her morning jog and needed to grab her water bottle from the fridge. Yuffie took notice of her shorts with brightening eyes and a grin, causing Sora to fluster a bit. It was so sad how badly he was in love with Kairi – Yuffie couldn't even look at the girl without receiving a glare from Sora. This was…particularly new –and very bizarre. She shifted her gaze towards Sora and kept her stare locked with his. Now this definitely was not a staring contest but Yuffie had a feeling it was the intense kind of stare an owner gave their dog while holding tightly onto the dog's leash; the stare that said: I have the upper hand here, don't you try to undermine me. And being the homeless bum living under Sora's roof, that made Yuffie the dog.

…Bark.

"I guess I'll see you guys later." Yuffie arose from her seat, taking her dishes to the sink. Last thing she wanted to do was get kicked out again.

"Where are you going?" Sora asked suddenly.

Yuffie frowned, "To look for a job."

"Do you need an extra house key?" Kairi asked, taking a sip of her chilled water.

Both Sora and Yuffie looked over to Kairi now. Yuffie only paused before saying, "No. I'll be out all day…I'm sure someone will be home by then."

"You…sure?" Kairi recapped her water bottle.

Looking towards Sora now, as if he had asked the question, Yuffie answered with a smile on her face, "Yes, I'm sure." Bark. Bark. Sparky now exits stage right.

☆··—

»**LACED** Well I'm not exactly sure where I'm going with this.  
This file has been sitting in my documents folder for a few months now  
and I thought it deserved to be read by at least one person.  
Hopefully Echo and I come up with something soon. I'm even considering  
a strange love triangle. (Bwuahaha?) Til' then, review nicely, yes?


	2. Perfectly Aligned

»RECYCLED AIR♪

☆··—

Avoiding death-by-fast-moving-taxicabs, Yuffie quickly jumped back onto the sidewalk. She ignored feeling the shame of idiocy as she slumped down onto a blue bench and began lightly tapping her fingers against the lid of her paper cup. Like many other human beings, Yuffie found herself deep in addiction to what we call "Caffeine," and today's morning fix was found at the corner gas station for the skyrocketing price of a dollar and fifty cents. To her right, sat a man who had fallen asleep waiting for the bus. Not that what he was doing could hardly be considered sitting anyway; his limp body was nearly sliding off the seat and his head was leaning far off to the side.

Yuffie continued tapping on her lid rhythmically to no tune at all, scanning the area, wondering if it would rain again today. There was an overcast, which was made up of cloud and pollution –mostly pollution–, but even the slightest amount of rain would absolutely ruin her day. Granted, she did enjoy a little drizzling here and there, but bad weather did not mix well with job hunting. She leaned back in her seat slightly, and hugged her jacket closer to her body. A cold breeze was picking up and she wished she had put a beanie on that morning. Wind was at the top of her list of many dislikes.

Remembering she had also picked up a pack of cigarettes at the gas station, she glanced over at the unmoving man on the other end of the bench and frowned. Unlike a lot of smokers, Yuffie felt guilt for smoking in the presence of nonsmokers –even if they were complete strangers and fast asleep. Waking the guy up just to ask if he minded, though, seemed out of the question.

Her frowning continued as she discarded the thought of pulling the pack out. She didn't even know why she bought them. Well, besides the obvious factor that was her dependence on them, she knew now was not the time to be spending money on cigarettes. Yuffie would be a lot less broke now if she didn't waste so much money killing her lungs. Being broke meant stress, however; and stress meant needing cigarettes; and needing cigarettes to ease the stress meant being _more_ broke; which in turn only created more stress but also ups the need for smoking…and the cycle never ends.

"…You there? Or am I talking to myself?"

Yuffie blinked, looking up at the girl who was now staring down at her, "What?"

She tucked a few strands of blonde hair behind her left ear and repeated herself, "I was asking if you knew when the last bus came by."

"Oh…" Yuffie looked down at her coffee and then back up at the skinny girl, "I just got here a few minutes ago… but it shouldn't be too long before it gets here.."

"Oh alright. Thanks."

The girl took a seat in between Yuffie and the sleeping man. Yuffie began to wonder if the guy was even sleeping. He looked like a snore-er, but he wasn't making a sound. After a few seconds of wild speculation, she decided she was best off not knowing.

"I was going to take the subway, but I always found it kind of creepy down there."

Thrown off a bit by the fact that this random girl was striking up a conversation with her at the bus stop this early in the morning, Yuffie only blinked a few several times before responding.

"I wouldn't know. I avoid underground transportation."

"Oh I see. Claustrophobic?" Nameless girl pressed on.

Now Yuffie was all for chatting up strangers, but it was seven in the morning; she was quite literally freezing her ass off because the bench was so cold; and she hadn't even finished her coffee yet. Not to mention she didn't get much sleep last night after Kairi told her about the damn iguana, but Yuffie wasn't going to snub anyone that actually wasn't being a total prick. Running into decent people in this town was a pretty rare thing.

"I wouldn't think so. If anything I'm the opposite."

The girl clasped her hands together in her lap and smiled, "Interesting."

Yuffie arched a brow, "How so?"

"Why do you live in such a big city if you enjoy being in confined places?"

Giving the girl a sideway stare, Yuffie answered honestly, "…It makes me feel small."

"I take it, you don't like attention?"

"You ask a lot of questions." Yuffie squinted, and leaned back, bringing her cup to her mouth.

"I enjoy conversation." The girl simply stated with a shrug. "So, are you gay?"

This completely caught her off guard. Yuffie snorted, almost spilling her drink, "Are you hitting on me?"

She shook her head, "I was just asking because it's a popular fad and you never can tell whose gay and whose not these days."

'Does it matter?' would have been a question to fire back at her, but Yuffie realized this total stranger was stereotyping her and calling her love for women an in-thing.

"…Do I _look_ trendy to you?"

After a quick observation, she replied, "…Good point. So you like coffee?"

Yuffie stared blankly at her for a few moments. Unbelievable probably would have been a suitable word to describe this stranger. Another word would be surprising. The things that came out of her mouth were never expected and could have been easily taken in insulting ways, but Yuffie found them more amusing than offensive.

"You know, if I didn't think you were totally insane, I'd ask you to go out with me sometime."

"I told you, I don't date girls."

She paused before deciding the girl wasn't too big of a creep to introduce herself to, "…My name's Yuffie."

The blonde girl smiled, "Hello, Yuffie. I'm Rikku."

☆··—

It only took about a day, but the fact that that she was no better than those old guys sleeping next to shopping carts out there on the streets and alleyways – save for the beards – slowly sunk in as Yuffie found herself sitting outside Sora's apartment door. She'd been waiting for a little over an hour now and was regretting turning down the extra house key. Much to Yuffie's dismay, the large polluted cloud that hung over the city decided it wasn't done leaking sewer water on the little people below yet, and brought her hunt to an early end. Not to mention her now damp hair was exactly what she needed to top the whole "I'm homeless" look.

She had to find out where she would go to next. Her dad always had a saying about guests: "Guests are like fish. After two days they start to stink."

As incredibly lame as that sounded, it was more than often true. And Yuffie did not want to overstay her welcome. After remembering more things the old geezer used to say, she remembered why they were no longer on speaking terms. Yuffie leaned her head back against the wall and gazed up at the ceiling. She wasn't sure what irritated her more; the fact that most the negative things he said were true, or the fact that she never made the effort to prove him wrong.

Footsteps, along with two voices, could be heard coming from the stairwell and Yuffie could only glance in the direction. She gave up standing up at the sign of people approaching because she'd done it too many times now and was disappointed to find it was never Sora or Kairi. Life hated Yuffie, though, so this time, as she remained on the checkered linoleum hallway floor like the lost puppy she was, one of the persons turned out to actually _be _the red-headed temporary host of hers.

"Yuffie." Kairi proceeded over to where the older girl sat, the blonde boy accompanying her followed behind. "How long have you been out here?"

A quick look at her watch told her: one hour and thirty-seven minutes.

Yuffie rose to her feet, "Not long."

"Oh, I'm sorry I couldn't be home sooner."

"No don't be. I wasn't supposed to be back in this early..."

Kairi shifted the messenger bag over her shoulder uncomfortably, "Ah—Sorry. Yuffie, this is my friend Roxas. Roxas, this is Yuffie."

"Hi," he greeted her and shook her hand in a way Yuffie could only describe as 'kiss-ass-ish'.

Like he obviously had no interest in meeting her or who she was at all but was more than willing to act like he did because for all he knew Yuffie could have been a really good chum of Kairi's and to better his chance of getting in her pants he had to kiss up to Yuffie, or anyone else Kairi introduced him to.

Yuffie only half-smiled and shook his hand correspondingly.

"Well I guess I should get going."

"Thanks for helping me carry my books up."

"Oh no, it was my pleasure." He leaned in and gave Kairi a friendly hug before heading back towards the stairs. "I'll see you around. It was nice meeting you Yuffie."

Yuffie smiled and nodded wordlessly and wondered how she got to become such a fake. It wasn't like she said 'Oh my gosh, it was nice meeting you _too_,' or anything, but she wasn't saying, 'Yeah, you too, pal. Sorry I just cock-blocked you by accident.' Nobody walked a girl up seven frickin' floors just to get a petty hug and be off on his way.

Inside, Yuffie dragged her feet as she sauntered towards the couch; removing her jacket and scarf. Kairi had gone to her room and Yuffie figured that'd be the last that she would see of her for the night. She had to remember she was staying in this house for the time being only because Sora had a bizarre heart of gold and Kairi didn't have to be friends with her, much less talk to her.

Not only that, but she sensed awkwardness between the two of them. Like the kid was afraid of her or something. Was Yuffie intimidating? Well all right. Maybe she was a little… but she couldn't help it if she was.

Yuffie ran a hand through her hair, which was nearly dry now and began rummaging through her black garbage bag of belongings.

She didn't mean to scare Sora's little lover, though. Kairi was kind of cute…and to be honest, when she was obviously uncomfortable, she looked even cuter. Yuffie felt like a creep for declaring that in her head. Pulling out a clean shirt, she started unbuttoning the dampened one she had on. She needed a dry shirt. She needed an alcoholic beverage above all things, but settling on the only thing in reach, she decided a clean shirt was the best way to go.

"Hey Yuffie, I was thinking about—Oh…um I'm sorry."

Only glancing over her shoulder slightly, Yuffie laughed, "Uh…It's ok?" She pulled the plain t-shirt over her head and could not help but laugh again. Kairi had her hand shielding her eyes and stood uncomfortably facing the wall. Someone obviously missed out on public school locker rooms.

Yuffie walked past her, into the kitchen saying, "You know, I don't understand why women get embarrassed being seen in their underwear. Most of them show off more in bikinis when they go swimming anyway."

Kairi blinked momentarily, wary of removing her hand from her face. She hadn't really thought of that before, but it made sense. …Kind of. "Still, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to walk in on you—"

"Kairi." Yuffie interrupted.

"Yes?"

"Is it ok if I grab a soda out of the fridge?"

"Oh! Yeah…go for it. I was actually coming out here to ask if you wanted coffee; I was going to make some…"

"I've already had a good amount of coffee for the day."

Kairi clasped her hands together and twiddled her thumbs, still standing in the same spot. Yuffie watched her, in all her awkwardness, and began wondering if she was really that unapproachable or if Kairi was just naturally this weird around people she didn't know very well.

"You know, it's really unfair." Yuffie hopped up onto the counter.

Kairi quirked up an eyebrow, "What is?"

"You've seen me in my underwear twice now and I haven't seen you."

"Huh?!"

"Well the other night I was in boxers. I do believe that counts."

"But—I didn't mean to, and I figured they were just shorts. …I'm—"

Realizing the poor girl hadn't the slightest clue what a joke was, Yuffie decided to end the torment. "I'm _kidding_."

She didn't understand why it was so fun embarrassing Kairi this way. Kairi sighed, before nearly jumping out of her skin at the sound of Sora opening the front door. Yuffie smiled, taking a swig of her soda.

"Hey. What are you two doing?" The brunette entered the house with a pizza box in hand.

"I just caught Kairi peeping in on me while I was changing."

Sora arched his brow before deadpanning a "Ha-ha" and shut the door behind himself, "That's a bit hard to believe."

"It's true. Tell him what color my bra was, Kairi."

The redhead scratched her head and laughed nervously, "I'd…much rather not." Clearing her throat she decided to steer the conversation towards a different subject, "What's that?"

Locking the door and turning around with a now very much confused face on, Sora replied, "Ah, I had dinner with a friend so I thought I'd grab a pizza for you guys."

"Well that was nice of you." Kairi smiled, as he handed her the box.

"Actually, Yuffie," He turned towards the ebony-haired girl sitting on the counter top, "The friend I had dinner with was Riku. I ran into him on my way back from work and he invited me to grab something to eat. …He was asking if I'd heard from you."

"_Holy_… You two still keep in contact?"

It was a surprise they still talked. If they were still hanging out with each other to this day, Yuffie was going to be pretty pissed to hear they never included her.

"Well, yeah. We talk here and there…but you know our circle of friends pretty much split up after high school."

Take Sora and Yuffie, for instance.

Yuffie grimaced, "True."

"Anyway, he was worried the other night when you took off. He says he didn't mean to piss you off…"

"Yeah, well he shouldn't have been lecturing me like I was some dumb kid." Yuffie muttered, twisting the pull-tab on her soda can.

"Maybe you should call him?"

Poor Sora. Always being turned into the messenger boy because Yuffie and Riku were too immature to actually talk things through. Actually Riku probably would have done it but Yuffie preferred to shun him whenever they had a falling out and the only way to get a message across was through Sora. No one could ever be mad at him.

With a final wind, the pull-tab snapped off the can and Yuffie gazed down at it. "I'll stop by to see him tomorrow…"

☆··—

Sitting in the car with Sora the next day, as they drove towards Riku's apartment on the other side of town, had been a bit…well; Yuffie could only call it unanticipated. For one, she had assumed she'd be taking some form of public transportation there. She also didn't expect Sora to say what he did, when they pulled into the parking lot.

"…I didn't suggest that you see Riku today because I'm hoping you two will make up and you'll leave to stay with him."

Yuffie stared at him, a bit taken aback.

"I'm pretty sure that's what you were thinking, and I want you to know that wasn't the case at all. He just worries about you and I don't want you two mad at each other."

Yuffie adverted her gaze out the windshield, surveying the familiar parking lot. Sora's constant need to please everyone was irritating sometimes because he had a tendency of going above and beyond. Case in point:

"What do you think about moving in with me and Kairi?"

☆··—

»No, I'm not planning any Yuffie x Rikku.  
I'm just as surprised as you probably are that I continued the story. I was looking at my hair because I'd just recently got it cut real short—Yes, I know, talk about stereotypical lesbian—and for some strange reason or another, that reminded me I had a story I hadn't looked at since April. Moreover, I apologize for the Slow-moving story. I'm a tad rustier than I thought.

On another note: Does anyone have any suggestions on writing music? I like listening to music when I work and…I've pretty much grown tired of everything in my iPod.

_Big thanks to Tyler (Star of Sorrow) for proof reading this chapter for me. Poor Echo's computer is down right now._


	3. Obeying Stop Signs

»RECYCLED AIR

··—

Yuffie inhaled a large enough amount of smoke to make the biggest chain smoker light-headed and looked at Sora from the corner of her eyes. They were in the hallway of Riku's rundown apartment complex now, waiting for the elevator to return from its last trip to the thirteenth floor. Sora's offer was still hanging in the air, absorbing any amount of oxygen either of them could have used to create some small amount of conversation with. Yuffie was doing her part in tainting any she could speak through.

There was frankly nothing to say. She wanted to take the offer but knew she shouldn't. There weren't enough rooms in his place to harbor three people and an iguana. And heaven forbid Yuffie invade the iguana's living room. Besides, there was no way she could live on their couch. She'd been sleeping on her own couch for the past year and a half due to lacking furniture, so it wasn't an issue of being picky. It just wasn't something anyone wanted to do; live on their old friend's couch.

Waving a cloud of cancer away from his face, Sora gathered enough energy to speak, and also the ability to read minds.

"You can take my room."

He was either too afraid of having Yuffie sleep in the same room with the love of his life, or he was just that self-sacrificing. Everyone knew which it was, but the thought couldn't resist surfacing in her mind. Yuffie chose to be immature about it.

"You're afraid I'll take advantage of Kairi."

Sora's reaction put a smile on her face. He shouted, "It's not like that!"

The elevator doors opened with a swift _Ding_ and Yuffie put her cigarette out. Sora was really too easy. He was also too nice. And she wondered why undeserving people like herself always found friends like Sora.

"It's really great that you'd even consider all this," she left his side and entered the small darkened box to stare straight at him, "But you know it wouldn't be right for me to move in."

His eyes seemed ready for the rest of his expression to turn into a frown but his mouth remained a thin line. If it were possible, Sora was the king of making someone feel guilty when there was no reason for them to feel any to begin with. Yuffie was supposed to be feeling guilty for _wanting _to move in. His sad gaze continued as he followed.

"It's okay to take other people's help."

"Sure but it's not okay to take their pity." Yuffie loosened the scarf around her neck, "You're so serious all of a sudden."

Sora raised a brow, "I'm the serious one?"

Yuffie remained staring straight ahead. Their mangled reflections were dully looking back towards them in the rusting, over-used doors.

"I'll think about it. Alright?"

"I really hope you do." Sora closed his eyes.

"I don't get why I can't shack up with Kairi."

"Yuffie..."

"I mean if anything I think she'd be the one attacking me-"

"Yuffie, shut up." He put the sad azules away.

She was happy with that.

··—

The talk with Riku was brief. It was simple and the way Yuffie liked it. One person she could communicate with without expecting bush-beatings, however that phrase works, was Riku.

"You shouldn't be mad at me." Riku would say.

"I'm not. You're just a prick." Yuffie would bluntly reply.

"Fine." He'd say, content with that answer.

"I'll see you around." She'd wave over her shoulder.

"I'm not housing you next time it rains." Riku would add, instead of saying 'Take care of yourself.'

"You don't have to. I'm moving in with Sora." Yuffie would impulsively decide to throw in his face.

So it was set that she was moving in, without any given thought besides her inability to avoid _I'll-Show-You_ moments. She was showing Riku alright.

Downstairs and outside in the parking lot Yuffie decided to part ways with Sora for the rest of the day, promising to find her own way back 'home' before midnight and even called him "mom" before she left. She had simply stated that she had things to take care of, but Sora knew there was no such errand. Yuffie hardly ever planned anything out in her life and that was a poor excuse to get away. He enjoyed letting her believe she was as sly though, so he simply agreed to see her later and she was off.

Yuffie was content doing nothing but getting lost on her own in the city she's seen every day for the past two decades of her existence. Decades made her sound slightly older for some reason. She wanted to rephrase it in her head but the words were already thought and there was no longer any point to un-think it. She wanted to rephrase a lot of things that's ever been said or thought but didn't see the point.

She wondered why she didn't tell Sora she just wanted to walk around for a few hours. Maybe it was because she felt he wouldn't understand it as mind-clearing but rather just being unproductive. She should be job-hunting after all. It'd be a shame to make him regret his decision to move her in only an hour after it was made. And what would his dear roommate think of all of this? Had they even talked it out or did he actually make an impulsive move of his own?

Yuffie had forgotten to even ask how much rent was; how much she needed to pitch in for groceries; or if each person bought their own food items and had their names greedily scribbled on the containers in sharpie. She tried to recall the soda can she had stolen then, from the fridge wondering whether or not it had inked selfishness ornamenting the sides. It probably didn't, but what did Yuffie know about that. Oh crap, and the cereal...

She strolled down a few blocks east, towards the busier districts of town. Plazas were available to meander through, and there was a lot of space to ponder boxed foods. By six the yellow street lights had already livened up, making the area seem gloomier than it should have. Yuffie walked with her hands in her coat pockets, gazing into the passing store windows. It was a quarter past eight and most shopkeepers were closing early due to the high rising crime rates in the city. She didn't blame them for being afraid, but as scary as the news made it to seem, she'd been wandering around for the past three hours and no one's even so much as looked at her.

As the topic of shady characters swarmed around in her head Yuffie, with all her perfect timing, came across the biggest creeper of them all. The blonde boy who had been gawking into a still-lit store window since Yuffie rounded the corner two minutes ago turned out to be the pleasant Roxas. Yuffie glanced upwards at the green letters permanently floating above the door, reading: Book Barage.

Yuffie shot her gaze to the left first at the emptying district, then back at Roxas before clearing her throat. "You must be a big fan of reading."

The guy tore his eyes away from the lusty modern shelves lining the walls of the store to spare Yuffie some attention. Not realizing they'd met just the night before, he tilted his head a little before asking,

"Excuse me?"

"Why are you staring so desperately into a book store?"

This was of course said to be a joke.

"I am not. It's none of your business, alright?"

Yuffie's eyes could have become mere dots then, staring at him so dully.

He turned away from her but glanced over once more to dismiss her, "Do you mind?"

"Actually, I do fucking min-"

The hot-head cut herself off at the sight of red hair emerging from the front door. Spinning around it seemed Kairi was just as surprised to see Yuffie as Yuffie was to see the red-headed girl. It would seem Roxas' presence was also unexpected from the look of her confusion.

Yuffie wanted to scoff a little, realizing what the first party member was doing here but she felt a little odd being there herself and couldn't imagine coming off any more bizarre.

Roxas was the first to speak. Quick to make an excuse, Yuffie decided. "I thought you could use an escort home again."

Kairi blinked still unsure of the situation, "So you brought Yuffie along?"

An animated sweat drop could have formed on her face at that point.

"Yuffie?"

It clicked then, in his head, who this weird homeless-looking stranger was that was speaking so rudely to him before. He smiled and apologized, stating that he'd forgotten Yuffie's name. Yuffie didn't care and Kairi's confusion continued.

"You're scarf was covering part of your face. I couldn't recognize you in this light."

"My missing chin withheld my identity..?" she only thought.

"That's fine, Roxas." Yuffie grinned, "I've always disliked these yellow lights. They do no good, do they?"

"They surely don't." Roxas smiled cheerily as well.

"I only came by to walk Kairi here home." Yuffie impulsively threw in his face, even though it was untrue. "Considering I'm on the way and all."

The imaginary sweat drop magically unglued itself from Kairi's temple to Roxas' forehead at that moment. He was fitting into his schema now that Yuffie was in fact suddenly a permanent crack embedded in his seemingly flawless vinyl in the record player that was Kairi's heart. –Or her pants.

"You did?" Kairi's mouth formed a small _o_.

She was cute, Yuffie decided before nodding. "Should we go?"

The taller girl seemed so much nicer than usual and Kairi couldn't be more thrown off by it. She blindly agreed without remembering to wonder why her school mate was outside her store in the first place. As they left, before she could even inquiry about the strange confrontation, the older girl announced the news of her moving in.

"That's wonderful," Kairi shrugged and smiled, "Will you be sharing a room with me?"

"Heh," Yuffie's grin faltered, "That wouldn't be appropriate," considering all the jokes she made that afternoon.

Not that sharing a room itself seemed entirely inappropriate to Yuffie, but it didn't quite seem fair considering the other girl was still in the dark about certain things. Those things being: Yuffie thought she was cute; Sora liked her a whole lot; and Yuffie thought she was really cute.

Innocently enough Kairi giggled, "And I suppose being in a room with Sora is?"

Yuffie gave her a side stare as they continued walking towards the subway entrance and decided she didn't want to bond all too closely with Kairi just yet. Not that she felt they'd bond much ever.

"I guess it isn't, huh?"

Kairi descended down the first stair step before pausing to ask, "You don't mind the subway transit, do you?"

Yuffie half smiled, "No."

··—

The roaring underground trains continuously zoomed in and out of the station, causing Yuffie considerable amounts of uneasiness. She ran her fingertip along the corners of the box-covered cigarettes in her pocket. Another train came roaring by making it difficult for Yuffie to think herself hear.

Her eyes peeled away from the red and black sign warning her against lighting up a smoke where she sat. She was seated on a chilly metal bench, next to a cornered vending machine. Kairi on the other hand remained on her feet, leaned up against a large tile column. She seemed miniature in comparison to the large underground.

She was vibrant in this light, wearing nothing but monochromatic colours.

Yuffie shifted, keeping her thoughts to a minimum. Perhaps moving every few minutes would keep the heat from escaping her coat (And the hormones form seeping through her thoughts). Yuffie would never publish a book on this topic, it seems.

"You're afraid of the subway." Kairi smiled looking down at Yuffie from where she stood.

Yuffie left Kairi in her peripheral view and kept her eyes on the rails. "No, my ears are just sensitive to the echoes."

"In other words, you're afraid of loud noises."

"In other words, I prefer quieter forms of transit."

Kairi allowed that point to be left where it was placed. She was quick enough to pick up that Yuffie liked being seemingly invincible. The smaller girl remained on her feet, leaning against the cold tile-covered column, wondering now where poor Roxas had gone. She had conjured up an idea of why he was there, it was pretty obvious, but she was more curious about Yuffie.

It was hard letting on that one knew much less than he or she honestly did.

"Hey..." Kairi brought her hands out from behind her, "Maybe we should have taken a taxi with Roxas."

Her dark-haired companion shifted her position on the metal bench. "He's a tough lad. I'm positive he can handle himself."

"Statistics say otherwise." It was a considerate thought.

"Well his eyes are rather pretty," Yuffie brought a hand to her chin thoughtfully. Vandalism was raging at the moment, but she was also positive rape wasn't an issue-even if the boy did take on the resemblance of a defenseless girl.

Kairi smiled.

"You aren't sweet on him, are you?"

There were a lot of things Kairi was keen on: Technology, Astrology, Psychology, and even Biology; But the male anatomy was not one of them.

"You speak like an old man." She answered closing her eyes momentarily.

Scoffing to relieve herself from the continuous sounds of gears, scraping metal, and coughing strangers, Yuffie eyed her now-roommate at last. The red head habitually raised one foot off the ground and tapped the tip of her boot against the ground twice, as if to shake something off. Yuffie wondered how Kairi hadn't keeled over from the temperature freezing her scrawny limbs to mere popsicles yet. The red head was wearing leggings, a dress that didn't pass her knees, and two sweaters. Her boots couldn't possibly count for any amount of warmth.

"Meaning I curse a lot?"

Yuffie grinned in a proud manner and noted that the other girl wasn't as awkward as before. It was probably the fact that Yuffie had more layers on than she's had in the past two days. Yeah, that was probably it. Her thought process made a pause as she mulled that over a second time.

"What's wrong with my body?" She blurted out, insulted.

Kairi's eyes widened a moment before refocusing them. "What are you talking about?"

The older girl crossed her arms, "This is the only time you're not acting so odd, and I realize it's because I'm fully covered from chin down." Yuffie recalled the desperate blonde boy and involuntarily rubbed her chin.

Brushing her bangs from her face, Kairi allowed herself to laugh a bit. "Would you feel better if I said I was home schooled?"

"You were?"

The red head shook her head 'no' and then pushed away from the column. Yuffie frowned and her stomach curled itself into the shape of discomfort-if it were possible for discomfort to ever take shape; it would seem the train had arrived.

Boarding the nearest cart, Yuffie and Kairi silently took their places in the isle, holding onto whatever support they could find. Eyeing the sleepy crowd of subway goers, Yuffie wondered if train-station perverts still existed. In any case, she was more than prepared to throw down.

"What are you looking so grim about?" Kairi asked, looking over her shoulder.

Yuffie snapped out of her alert mode, and pathologically made a lie, "I don't like the speed we're moving at."

She didn't understand why she lied sometimes. It just happened. Did that make her a bad person? Did it make her crazy in anyway? They weren't harmful lies, just ways to avoid from saying what was really on her mind; as if that was such a bad thing itself.

Kairi raised her brows looking around, "I think we're doing okay. Is it too fast?"

"Yeah," Yuffie tightened her grip on the cool metal in her fist.

The redhead pivoted around, "Why do you think that?"

"It's just not something I'm used to, that's all."

That was uncharacteristic of Yuffie to admit, but it was a true concern nonetheless. What if the entire city came caving in and they were crushed under all the rubble? There could be an earth quake causing them to become trapped in the tunnel. So many things were wrong with underground transportation.

"I'm sorry you feel that way. I really appreciate you coming to meet me at work though."

Yuffie blinked suddenly unsure of what they were discussing. Quickly enough she realized Kairi mistook her words of the train for their budding friendship. She decided to go with it.

Kairi thought for a second, "Sora didn't push you into picking me up did he?"

Yuffie learned that if you just stared at someone they pretty much assumed anything themselves, so being speechless actually spoke an infinite amount of words.

"I thought it was pretty strange that you knew where I worked." The younger girl leaned against the chilly pole with all the nonexistent weight she possessed, "I understand you're a really good friend of Sora's. I don't want you to feel obligated to be mine, too. And I definitely don't want him making you feel that way."

Suddenly it just felt too cruel to let her go on. Yuffie wanted to say, 'I'm a big liar,' 'You're so unbearably cute I don't want to look at you when we talk,' and 'don't let your insecurities get too far ahead of you now,' but the fluorescent lights above their heads began to flicker. She could feel her heart skip two beats. As if doom could take on the ear-pounding sound of bass you hear in a thriller, the lights went off completely. The train continued its journey in absolute darkness and grunts of confusion emit from the other passengers.

"Kairi?" Yuffie heard herself ask, lacking more certainty that she would have liked.

A hand grabbed for her coat sleeve and that was the rest of the subway ride. Silent reassurance; the type you get from experiencing traumatic events with people which ultimately make you feel closer to them. Except this one wasn't very traumatizing because Yuffie was _fearless_ and they weren't much closer at all because Yuffie also just made Kairi feel less worthy of her very precious time.

From the distance at which the two stood, Yuffie could smell Kairi's hair conditioner and brushed off feelings of contentedness and decided it was appropriate to apologize for the confusion now.

"I was talking about the train moving too quickly."

"Oh… I'm sorry." Kairi went red behind the veil of lightlessness.

"Don't worry, I forgive you."

··—

»Firstly: No, that wasn't a typo.  
Secondly, and what should have been the first matter to address: Dear god, did I actually update? Talk about being a bleep-bleeping slacker, right? Three years-nearing four now?

Next update: 2012, guys!


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